by
Random House, Inc., New York, 1996. Suggested price: $27.50.
Reviewed by
Robert A. Weinberg, a professor of biology at MIT and a founding member of the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, offers an entertaining, highly personal tour of cancer research over the last half century. The account ranges from Otto Warburg's firm declaration that the origin of cancer can be traced only to the ability of cancer cells to burn sugars in the absence of oxygen, to the more recent discoveries of proto-oncogenes and tumor-suppressor genes. Along the way, Weinberg profiles some of the most interesting research personalities and the contributions they made, positive and negative, toward our present understanding of cancer. Politics, power plays, ambition, insight, fraud, and dedication fill the pages of this well-written book by someone who frequently managed to run with the leaders in the race.
Most writers realize sooner or later that very good books transcend genre. George Orwell’s 1984 meets every definition of science fiction, but it is not shelved in that section; instead, it is shelved with "literature."
In science writing, particularly popular biology and medicine writing, there is a list of books that has done more than update curious adult lay readers. In the past, these books also have enticed young people to choose careers in science. They have created myths (Sinclair Lewis’s Arrowsmith), depicted honestly the boorish side of ambition (J. D. Watson’s The Double Helix) or done both of the above (Paul De Kruif’s Microbe Hunters). Robert A. Weinberg’s Racing to the Beginning of the Road: The Search for the Origin of Cancer might be in this class. Skillfully written and edited, it will undoubtedly entertain both scientists and lay readers. And it will certainly inspire some readers to pursue careers in research. Some experienced cancer researchers may wonder why one story or another did not find its way into the account. They may interpret events differently, but readers in other fields and nonscientists will find it to be an uncluttered valuable tour of cancer research in this century.
Weinberg, a professor of biology at MIT and a founding member of the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, has the perspective, experience and clear explanatory writing style to guide readers through this history like a Dickensian ghost recreating the past for our sake. We are taken back to hear the great German classical biochemist Otto Warburg announce with Prussian certainty that he has uncovered the origin of cancer (it was, he declared, cause by the ability of cancer cells to burn sugars in the absence of oxygen). We observe with a little discomfort the difficult struggle to piece the tobacco-cancer connection together. We watch the mobilization of researchers as Big Government decides to capture, categorize, and develop vaccines against all the viruses that surely are the cause of all cancers. In the background, chemists and toxicologists list, year after year, the chemicals that induce cancer.
Then, as the few viruses that do cause cancer yield their clues, our guide points us toward the cancer genes that lurk in our own cells. We are taken into the labs where post-docs labor to relate viral genes to mammalian genes and to identify and clone them. Here we see the exceptional bench workers and the average ones, the rigorous and the sloppy, the honest and the outright deceptive. The book amounts to a guided tour of how we reached our present understanding of cancer as the role played by the proto-oncogenes, the mammalian versions of the viral cancer genes, are identified. Weinberg compares oncogenes to "accelerators" as they lose control and drive the out-of-control machinery of the cancer cell. We learn how a cancer that blinds children, retinoblastoma, gives up its secret to a couple of researchers who sought it against big odds. It is revealed that the cell has natural cancer "brake systems," tumor-suppressor genes that fail to suppress in cancer. Thus we are brought up to date, to "the beginning of the road." From this point it is safe to begin hoping for real clinical progress, for cancer-selective treatments and potential cures.
The historical overview provided by Weinberg is a quick read, not because the subject material is easy but because the author makes it easy to understand. Perhaps overly modest in this story, he lacks the arrogance so often associated with prominent principal investigators. Weinberg's modesty in this book makes it easy to follow him on his selective and entertaining trip. We know that he could not have led his lab over two decades to be at the center of cancer gene research by just a little good work and luck. Because Weinberg does not seem to need to show us how accomplished he is, he makes pleasant company in these pages.
The author selected the stories and the characters well. A complete account would have been less enlightening. We miss many events and incidents, of course, that would be included in a definitive history of cancer research, but their inclusion would obscure the excitement of the hunt. The important characters in this adventure are portrayed in snapshot profiles but the snapshots are taken by a professional and insightful observer. The players assume enough depth to become familiar. Anyone who has worked at the bench will recognize them: those who work night and day with ambitious drive and a lot or a little success, those who work nine-to-five, and the superstars who are too good to be true. Scientific fraud and deceit spice this story, but the notorious characters are rendered footnotes by the accomplishments of those patient and smart enough to suffer the frustrations of research. Weinberg observes that, unlike many of his colleagues, he enjoys knowing the history and the background of the subjects he studies. Some researchers today would see that as an indulgence or waste of time, hindering their progress and distracting them from the next grant. Racing to the Beginning of the Road is proof that there is a place looking backward in today’s fast-paced era.
Following his early successes with cell fusion, Harris had moved ahead in a frenzy, fusing all sorts of cancer cells with normal cells. Almost invariably, the resulting hybrid cells lacked an ability to form cancers he theorized that the normal partner cells supplied the cancer cells with a tumor-suppressor gene that they had discarded on their way to becoming malignant. There were hints that these other kinds of tumors were missing suppressor genes that normally sat on chromosomes other than the thirteenth, the roosting place of the retinoblastoma gene. Different roosts implied the existence of distinct, unrelated genes.
For more information on the people and research in Weinberg's working neighborhood, try the server of the Center for Genome Research at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research. Besides staff profiles, you'll find information on map and sequence releases, software, lab protocols, papers, abstracts, meetings etc. Weinberg's other affiliation is MIT.
The UCSF Cancer Center provides a useful primer on cancer at its Cancer at a Glance site. One active newsgroup devoted to cancer is sci.med.diseases.cancer. Discussions cover diagnosis, treatment and prevention. Topics range widely and the audience is mixed.
To zero in on a cancer of interest, turn to The National Cancer Institute's CancerNet. The site is designed for patients and the public, health professionals and basic researchers. Another site covers cancer and oncology research funded by the NIH.
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory offers dozens of new and recent book on oncogenes, viruses, cancer and other topics in biology and medicine. Their online book catalog is worth a look.
Dean A. Haycock is a journalist who writes science articles for many magazines and newspapers. He received his Ph.D. in Neuroscience from Brown University.